


Cliff Side

by Midnavii



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, How Do I Tag, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:35:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21809638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Midnavii/pseuds/Midnavii
Summary: TW for depression, suicidal thoughts, and attempted suicidethis is my first time posting on ao3, constructive criticism is always welcome!
Comments: 1
Kudos: 63





	Cliff Side

Ravio had told them how to look for the signs. How to check his arms everyday, subtly and respectfully, but if Legend were to withdraw from them, to take immediate action. To watch how much he had drank and eaten that day. To keep a respectful yet close distance when Legend started getting blowing off steam. 

The more they traveled together the more obvious Legend’s habits became. He still insisted on taking night watches and joining them in battle, despite the others’ protests.

One day, Wind had woken up before anyone else during Legend’s early morning shift, except he didn’t see Legend. He walked around for a bit, following a poorly concealed trail that must have been the older hero’s. He found him at the edge of a cliff. Just standing there, looking out at the horizon he knows he’ll never have the courage to explore again.

Wind approached him carefully, knowing that any sudden movement can startle his friend, whose feet were right on the very edge. None of his words or pleas reached Legend’s ears, he was too numb to the world to hear.

Legend knows he still has a duty to fulfill. But it takes too much out of him every time he’s put on another quest. Life took too much from him; his faith, his family, his friends, ones that he had dared to love. Life took away what little he cared for, and gave it to Death. And if Legend was honest with himself, he wouldn’t mind falling into death’s embrace as well.

He doesn’t have it in him anymore to curse the gods, they’ve already turned a blind eye to him. He knows that he can’t sleep anymore without five bottles to take him down, can’t dream anymore either. Without dreams he can’t see her anymore. There’s a hole in his soul, a piece of him brutally ripped out and discarded. The marks on him have grown in number, they seem to burn every time he thinks of them.

He’s tired. Done. Lost it all. A walking corpse. He’s managed to hide it for this long from the others.

The others.

He tries to remember the others. If they were even real. If they had truly loved him. If it was just another illusion.

But all that comes to mind in his already messed up conscious are blurred faces. Shouting and pleas becoming background noise. A buzzing in his ears, faint but there. He was aware of one voice earlier, more had joined it seemed.

Who are these voices? What are they saying? Are they talking to him? Are they telling him to do it? Where did they come from? 

Are they even real?

His feet were still on the edge, loose soil underneath. The sound of waves crashing against the cliff finally reaching his ears, have they always been this loud? 

The background noise was still there, sometimes he’ll pick out a word or two. Sometimes his name, life, a plea, Link. A faint memory of the other heroes laid back in his mind, distant. Blurred faces is all he sees. He tried to remember why they were together. It was another evil to defeat right? They could do it on their own. They don’t need a liability…

There was a loud noise behind him. Screaming? The noises faded away. The voices faded away. The memories faded away. He took a step forward, but there wasn’t anything there.

All he heard was the roar of the waves against the cliffs, the ocean calling for him. Calling for him again. Like it had called for her. He doesn’t need to see it; the waters dark, cold, uncontrollable. It’ll be still once he falls. It’ll all be still. The ocean will calm. It will rest.

He will rest.

But he didn’t rest.

His eyes are still closed. The ocean spray peppering his face with the coldest of droplets. His breath feels icy, the breeze harshly blowing in his face. 

He breathes.

He’s breathing.

There’s still feeling.

And dear Hylia why is he still feeling?

His eyes flutter open, he sees the water below him. It churns and climbs the cliff, desperate to reach him. But he’s not any closer to his fate. Nor is he any further.

There’s warmth around his midsection. Everything has been cold for so long now, what illusion is this? Is this one last mockery of him sent by the gods? The warmth stays there, heat travels up his spine, to his chest. It amplifies a sound in there. Something that he has seemed to forget about. Had discarded in fear of damaging it anymore.

The sound is a steady rhythm. It pulses in his throat, and beats like a drum in his ears. The thing wrapped around him shakes. Suddenly it pulls back, and the waves beneath him aren’t as close. 

He feels something under his feet. It’s soil, it’s soft. It’s real. He grounds himself to that spot. And looks up at the horizon. A light appears from where both endless blues meet. It’s hard to look at, painful. But it grows larger and larger. It’s there. A light in front of him.

The roar of the waves turn to background noise. The buzzing in his ears turn to shouting and sobs. Blurred faces come back into focus, tears streaming down each and every one.

He has never seen someone break down in front of him because of him like this before. Sure there had been those that pitied him, admired him, encouraged him. Very few had ever loved him, romantic or not. 

He looked around at his brothers and comrades, each one was talking to him, although he couldn’t quite understand what they were saying. Each was in contact with him one way or another; one hand held his, another clasping his shoulder, two more holding his face. He looked down at the arms wrapped around him, smaller hands than his own clenched tight to the fabric of his tunic. They were still shaking. Sobbing?

His mind became less of a jumbled mess. Emotions that he had yet to recognize already were taking their toll on him. His energy left him and he sunk to his knees in the soft soil. The others going down with him. He felt the ground beneath him, it was real. He felt warm droplets going down his face, those were real. He reached behind him slowly and lightly rubbed the shoulder of the person who had yet to let go. The shaking stopped abruptly, and the hands grasping his clothes so hard the knuckles had turned white let go.

They moved away from him, their warmth leaving him, but some of it still staying. They moved in front of him, casting a silhouette when they obscured the rising sun. He looked up at them; tears pouring down his cheeks, mouth moving without any sounds, eyes wide open, red and puffy. 

They knelt down and he reached out to them, the scars showing when the sleeve pulled back but they no longer burned. 

He grabbed their shoulder, and squeezed slightly. Big round dark eyes found his, a child’s innocent face morphed into fear, sadness, and… Relief?

Legend found himself embracing the younger one, his hand combing through sun-bleached tousles. It’s only when he feels the shaking again does he realize what he had almost done.

He had almost joined them, nearly everyone who had ever cared for him. And in doing so, he would have left behind a family he didn’t realize he had until now.

They all stayed on that cliff like that for a while, each contemplating what would have happened if the youngest hadn’t caught him in time. And how they would have gone on.

The sun rose above the horizon, signalling a new day, and with relief in their hearts, they led Legend back to the camp.

The next couple of days were….. Strange so to say. Once everyone had calmed down Legend confessed everything that he had suffered through. Koholint, the weight of the hero, the sacrifices made. 

Everything. He left nothing out.

When he was done, there was a while before anyone could say anything. Some cursed the gods for what he had gone through, others simply took his hand and reassured him that there will be brighter times ahead.

He started wearing less of his usual attire, not caring if his scars and marks showed or not. He let his guard down more around his family, earning him the title of “softie” when he was around the youngest of the group. He didn’t mind. 

Other days weren’t as enjoyable. He would remember how close he was to submerging himself in the depths of the dark blue, and relied on someone to be there when he fell to his knees, apologizing over and over again.

There was still an emptiness in his soul, something that he could never replace. But he found something new to mend the gaps. And knew that he would do whatever it took to keep his newfound family together, for as long as he could. He wasn’t going to leave them anytime soon.

The End.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you guys liked it! check out my tumblr (Midnavii or Midnavii'szeldablog) or instagram (not_enough_time_to_truly_live)


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